I wouldn't bet either. I started a thread in T&T once about not underestimating ones opponents. Some career criminals are very good shots and weapon handlers. Assuming they'll just run away and not pull out their own Glock 19, or whatever and fill you full of holes, is a dangerous assumption.

I will still go back to the statistics of law enforcement gun fights where 2 hits are necessary to subdue an enemy and the average hit percentage was 1/3 of the time. At this point, the trained officer had taken, on average 6 shots to subdue one criminal. At this point it is simple math. If there is one more attacker you will run out of rounds if you only have 8. Of course every circumstance will be different, but it is doubtful that attackers will be hanging like a sheet of paper at the range directly in front of you. So, something to consider.

Life's too short to sweat the things we can control (as I see it, it's the out-of-our-control stuff that kills us ). So I say it's a moot point on the platform--just carry a spare mag or speed-loader and then no-worries. It's cheap, requires essentially no change in attire, not much in the way of perceptible weight etc. and I can think of no downside (please don't reply with legal concerns as we need a separate forum for such IMO).

YMMV but whenever I talk to buddies or family members, this is always a unanimously held belief in my circles. Heck, 3/4 of the people I know who CCW do so and, moreover, carry a BUG as well .

__________________NRA Life Member
“A free people ought...to be armed..."
―George Washington

If you run the odds numbers accouting for the fact that every shot you get to take, each of the bad guys gets one as well, you'll see that surviving a multi-attacker encounter based solely on capacity (i.e. number of turns or innings) rapidly becomes statistically impossible. Even if they lack guns, as you spend time expending ammo, and whether or not you even hit, the baddies have the opportunity to incapacitate you; if they are anywhere close to as effective as you are with a gun, you cannot win.

I ran some rough probability numbers and got these for a successful 2 on 1 encounter where everyone has a 60% hit rate, and 2 shots to stop:

1st turn (you shoot and hit one of them, they both get to shoot back since 2 hits are assumed to incapacitate)
~82% probablilty you will receive a shot (whether you hit or not)2nd turn (you incapacitate Guy 1, Guy 2 gets to a chance to shoot back)
~49% probability you receive a second shot and are incapacitated3rd turn (you hit Guy 2 and he shoots back)
~74% probability you receive 2 or more shots by this point in the fight4th turn (you hit Guy 2 and finally end the fight or you miss and he gets a shot)
~97% probability you receive 2 or more shots by this point in the fight

Granted, there are assumptions in this analysis, and granted, any attack is a statistical outlier. The point is, capacity is not the important variable in determining victory, but speed and placement. If you have to take fewer turns (i.e. one shot stops) and get more turns the the other guys, the odds quickly move in your favor. If you simply add the number of innings you could physically prolong the fight, odds of survival rapidly become insignificant.

Quote:

2 hits are necessary to subdue an enemy and the average hit percentage was 1/3 of the time. At this point, the trained officer had taken, on average 6 shots to subdue one criminal.

(If it looks like I made an error in these calcs please let me know and I will attempt to rectify the mistake; e-net numbers only have value if they are accurate. I can show the math I used to arrive at these numbers if anyone really cares that much about permutations)

__________________
"I don't believe that the men of the distant past were any wiser than we are today. But it does seem that their science and technology were able to accomplish much grander things."
-- Alex Rosewater

Not every shoot you take will hit the target. Even for police that are more trained that alot of us. All the people saying that you will hit the person with every shot you take, is a myth in a real life situation.

Not every shoot you take will hit the target. Even for police that are more trained that alot of us. All the people saying that you will hit the person with every shot you take, is a myth in a real life situation.

Right you are but some of us here have had extensive training and some of us have been trainers for military and police officers. Mostly its about the attitude you can show when the adrenaline rush hits. There are those who stand firm under pressure and some who get all excited and need a few seconds under fire before they gather their wits and use their training and some who will never be good under pressure. That quirk in their physical reaction and personality counts for as much or more then skills on the range.

__________________
Good intentions will always be pleaded for any assumption of power. The Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern will, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters.
--Daniel Webster--

Physical attacks by more than 1 ... and up to 20 , is not that uncommon right now... if you've been keeping up with the news.

Instead of 1-2 robbers, it's more common now going in groups of 3-4.... 1-2 to cover the crowd in case someone has a cc gun among the witnesses / victims.

The "knock-out" crowd... are in full bloom in some areas.

Then, if you have any gangs around at all, and you probably do even if you don't happen to know about it... then running into 5 people who are all armed ... may not be that unexpected.

Home invasions, are typically 3 -5 people.

I know a person who answered his door late at night, because he knew 2 of the people outside, but also had a .45 behind his back. They tried to barge /push thru the door when he began to open it .... all were armed and immediately were pointing guns at him (how many not known). He shot and killed 3 of them, wounded one, and the last one was seen running away.

To say it's "unlikely" is great, until it happens.

OP: higher capacity semi-auto.... or "speed-loaders", and / or a loaded back-up gun.

If one reads the whole thread, its fairly obvious that CCW capacity is an individual thing that can be based partly, perhaps a large part, on area and circumstances.

A mid-sized 9mm/40 with 15+ round capacity and one or two spare magazines isn't unreasonable, plus a BUG, if its a high crime area, or not.
I made a joking reference to a Mac 10 in an earlier post in this thread, but I actually knew a man who carried a Mac 11 concealed, because his work required him to enter a very high crime area, where there was a chance of a gang/mob attack.

Thats not to say that only circumstances should dictate carry choice. Confidence and just plain old freedom come into play. If someone who lives in a relatively crime free area, wants to get approved, pay the Class III tax and CCW an UZI, I'd be the last to laugh at them. Just like I won't belittle the man that carries a five shot j-frame with no reload.

I can only speak for myself but I frequently take my S & W 642 .38 Airweight, stick it in my front pocket and go. I feel well protected by 5 rounds of +P. I think I could put up a good enough defense to discourage most attackers.

Most of the human predators out there are looking for an easy mark. If they see that you are prepared to put up a potentially deadly defense they'll skeedadle.

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